Weaving shuttle having a mechanically anchored tip



Nov; 18, 1952 w. J. GOSSELIN WEAVING SHUTTLE HAVING A MECHANICALLY ANCHORED TIP Filed July 26, 1951 elz'la fizz e/afar I Patented Nov. 18, 1952 "i i" WEAVING SHUTTLE HAVING A MECI- CALLY ANCHORED TIP Wilfrid J. Gosselin, Methuen, Mass, assignor to US Bobbin & Shuttle Company, Lawrence, Mass, a corporation of Rhode Island Application July 26, 1951, Serial No. 238,63!

' 2 Claims. (01. 139-196) This invention pertains to weaving shuttles and relates more particularly to a method of securing a tip to the body of the shuttle and to a novel shuttle construction resultant from the practice of this method.

Weaving shuttles are customarily made of wood and have tapering end portions which terminate in conical tips. Since the tip of a shuttle is subjected to the blows of the picker, it is usual to make the tip of some hard wear-resistant material such as steel. The customary tip comprises a conical head having a substantially flat base and an integral attaching stem coaxial with the head and projecting from the flat base of the head, the stem fitting within a bore form in the end of the wooden shuttle body. Usually the bore in the shuttle body is slightly smaller in. diameter than the stern of the tip so that the stem can only be inserted in the bore by the application of substantial force; usually adhesive is applied to the stem or to the interior of the bore before assembling the parts with the object of securing the tip in place.

During use the tip is subjected to the blows of the picker, but as the picker does not always strike the tip in the direction of the axis of the tip, the latter is subjected to violent sidewise stresses and as the stem of the tip is of small diameter, for example of the order of inch, the

wood of theshuttle, where it contacts the stem,

is subjected to heavy compressive stresses which result in a rapid widening of the stem-receiving bore and consequent progressive loosening of the tip, the adhesive being wholly inadequate, under such conditions, to hold the tip securely in place.

Various expedients have been proposed for securing the tip in place more reliably than by the use of adhesive, for instance by screw-threading the stem, or by the employment of a retaining pin passing through the wood of the shuttle body and transversely through the stem of the tip. However, the screw-thread helps but little, while a transversely extending pin is not favorably regarded by the trade because of the possibility that such an element may, itself, become loose and project from the shuttle with consequent serious damage to the surroundings.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel mechanical anchorage for a shuttle tip so devised that it is wholly concealed within the substance of the shuttle body,

without possibility of lateral escape or projection,

the tip against axial movement relatively to the shuttle body but which also prevents rotation of the tip relatively to the shuttle body. A further object is to provide a shuttle having a tip and.

an anchorage element mechanically connected to the tip and including claw elements so disposed as, by engagement with the wood of the shuttle body, powerfully to oppose withdrawal of the stem of the tip from the bore in the body. A further object is to provide tip-retaining means of very simple and inexpensive type and which is applicable to tips of generally conventions; form and without necessitating departure from the usual procedure in preparing the shuttle body for the reception of the tip. A further object is to provide a novel method of securing a tip to the body of a weaving shuttle whereby a mechanical anchorage of the tip is obtained, but without recourse to the use of any part which passes transversely through the body of the shuttle or which may become loose during use. A further object is to provide a novel method of securing a tip to the body of a weaving shuttle such that the tip may be assembled with the shuttle in the usual manner by forcing the stem of the tip into a bore in the shuttle, but wherein the forcing of the stem into the bore in the shuttle body concomitantly forms grooves in the shuttle body at diametrically opposite sides of the stem for the reception of anchorage elements. Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a shuttle of conventional type having the tip anchored in place in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, to larger scale than Fig. 1, showing a tip, apart from the shuttle and inodified for the practice of the present invenion;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 but to larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a plan of a length of wire useful in forming a tip retainer according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. i;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section of the end portion of the shuttle body showing the axial bore therein and illustrating an early step in the practice of the present invention;

Fig. '7 is a View similar to Fig. 6, but showing a later step in the procedure;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the tip in its final and anchored position; and

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I designates the end portion of a shuttle body of conventional type, usually made of wood, although, so far as the present invention is concerned, the shuttle body may be made of other organic material. This shuttle body is provided with the usual axial bore B in its end, designed to receive the stem of a metallic tip 3 (Fig. 2). This tip 3, as shown in Fig. 2, is of generally conventional type consisting of a single piece of metal shaped to provide the conical head 4 having the flat under surface 5 which contacts the fiat end surface 2 of the shuttle body, when the parts are assembled. and the cylindrical stem 6 which is of such diameter as to fit snugly within the bore B.

In accordance with the present invention, the stem 6 is provided with a diametrically extending opening 1, of relatively small diameter, as compared with that of the stem, for example a diameter of one-sixteenth of an inch, and desirably the opposite ends of this opening 7 are counterbored to provide the conical enlargements 8.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a length 9 of metal, preferably of spring wire such as piano wire, of a diameter such that it may be passed easily through the opening 1 in the stem 6, and of a length such that when its central portion is located in the opening 'I, end portions project from the stem a substantial distance. For instance, each projecting end portion may be of a length approximately one-half the length of the stem. However, the exact length of the projecting portion is not important, but obviously it must be less than the distance between the opening 7 and the surface 5 of the head d. Desirably the ends H) of this length of wire are beveled ofi so as to provide sharp points.

In the assembly of the tip with the shuttle body, the wire 9 is first passed through the opening 1 in the stem 6 and positioned as shown in Fig. 6 so that substantially equal length extend at opposite sides of the stem. The end of the stem is now inserted in the bore B, with the projecting end portions of the wire 9 lying in contact with the end surface 2 of the shuttle body. Force is now applied, either by pressure or blows, to the end of the head 4, so as to drive the stem 6 down into the bore 13. Such movement of the stem compels the projecting end portions of the wire 9 to bend where they emerge from the enlarged ends 8 of the passage I, as shown in Hg. '7. The forcing of the stem 6 into the core is continued until the fiat face 5 of the head 6 contacts the end surface 2 of the shuttle body. During the final inward motion of the stem the projecting ends of the wire 9 assume positions such that they are substantially parallel to the axis of the stem (Figs. '1 and 8) but since they are exterior to the rigid stem, they form grooves H (Fig. 8) in the substance of the shuttle body at diametri cally opposite sides of the stem, as the stem is forced downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 8. Since the wire employed is preferably of a resilient spring type, such as piano wire, it requires substantial force to bend its projecting end portions so that they occupy the position shown in Fig. 8, and assuming that the wire is not stressed beyond its elastic limit, these end portions constantly tend to spring away from each other, thus crowding their sharpened tips into the wood of the shuttle body. Thus these sharp tips act like claws to grip the wood of the shuttle body and thus oppose powerful resistance to any force tending to draw the stem 6 out of the bore B. As shown in Fig. 8, the final shape of the length of wire 9, when the parts are assembled, is that of a staple, being approximately U-shaped with its bend in the opening 1 of the stem and with its legs approximately parallel to the axis of the stem. Since these legs plow the grooves l l in the material of the shuttle body as the stem is driven into place, they offer very substantial resistance to rotation of the stem relatively to the shuttle body, as well as opposing axial movement of the stem. Thus the tip is very firmly anchored in place and even though the tip be subjected to transversely directed force during the use of the shuttle, such as to enlarge the bore B more or less, nevertheless the tendency of the legs of this retainer device to spring apart sufilces to prevent axial withdrawal of the stem from the bore B, even after the latter has become substantially enlarged.

Even though the wire 9 were not of highly resilient material, it would serve to anchor the tip in place quite satisfactorily because of the tendency of the sharp tips to bite into the Wood of the shuttle.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein by way of example it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shuttle having a body provided with an axial bore in its end portion and having grooves of relatively small diameter at diametrically opposite sides of the bore and parallel to the axis of the bore, a tip comprising a head and a stem, the stem fitting snugly in the bore and having a diametrically extending opening near one end, and retainer means comprising a part which is located in said opening in the stem and parts which are external to the stem and which are disposed in said grooves thereby preventing relative rotation of the stem and the shuttle body.

2. A shuttle having a body provided with an axial bore in its end portion and having grooves of relatively small diameter at diametrically opposite sides of the bore and parallel to the axis of the bore, a tip comprising a head and a stem, the stem fitting snugly in the bore and having a diametrically extending opening near one end, and retainer means comprising a length of spring metal wire having its central portion within the opening in the stem and end portions located within the respective grooves, the end portions of said length of wire terminating in sharp points, said end portions tending to spring apart thereby to press said points into the walls of the respective grooves.

WILFRID J. GOSSELIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,205,025 Balfour June 18, 1940 2,548,052 Phaneuf et al Apr. 10, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 967,293 France Mar. 22, 1950 

